JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville man was sentenced to five years in federal prison by United States District Judge Marcia Morales Howard on Tuesday for receiving child pornography over the internet.

John Carver Lester, 61, pleaded guilty on April 25, 2013 and has been in custody of the United States Marshals Service since his arrest back on December 20, 2012, according to a release by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The details of the release stated that an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Jacksonville uncovered Lester's pornography while identifying individuals who had access to and/ or were trading videos and images representing child pornography over the internet.

During the investigation the agent was able to use a file sharing program and connect to Lester's IP address. The agent found videos of young children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

On December 10, 2012, FBI agents and other law enforcement officers performed a federal search warrant at Lester's home and seized several hundred compact disks and five computers.

Lester told law enforcement during an interview that he had been downloading child pornography for about five years and developed an interest for it. He also said he was worried about possibly touching a child.

Following forensic analysis of Lester's computers, a total of 844 images and 261 videos were found showing child pornography.

In addition to the 5 years in federal prison, Lester was ordered to forfeit five computers, serve an eight year term of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney D. Rodney Brown and investigated by the FBI.

This investigation was part of the Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative that was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to fight against the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse.